No agreement was reached at the emergency meeting on Monday 21 November between the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on the issue of Kosovo Serb licence plates.
As a result of measures taken by Kosovo (see EUROPE 13054/6), Kosovo Serbs - police officers, judges, civil servants - have withdrawn from Kosovo institutions. According to the High Representative, less than 50 Kosovo Albanian police officers remain in police stations in northern Kosovo, while some 600 police officers have put down their uniforms, which “ leaves a very dangerous security vacuum (...) in an already very fragile situation”. In addition, as of 22 November, Kosovo will start fining Kosovo Serbs for Kosovo plates issued by Serbia.
After “8 hours of meetings”, the two parties “did not agree on a solution”, said Mr Borrell, who was visibly upset. He said the day’s meeting was about the responsibility of leaders “to urgently de-escalate the situation, to ensure that peace and stability are re-established and, most importantly, will prevail - avoiding a crisis with very grave consequences”.
But this did not happen and, according to the head of European diplomacy, the Balkan leaders have an “important responsibility” for this failure and for “any escalation and violence that might occur on the ground in the following days”.
The High Representative said that he had put forward a proposal which was accepted by the Serbian President but rejected by the Kosovar President. “I now expect Kosovo to immediately suspend further stages related to the re-registration of vehicles in north Kosovo (...) and to suspend issuing new licence plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations, including KM plates”, he said, adding that this was the proposal they had “almost reached” during the meeting.
According to Mr Borrell, if this plea were heard, “it would allow space and time for the parties to look for a sustainable solution to the licence plates issue, in the context of the normalisation of relations which is our most important objective”. For Mr Borrell did not hide his bitterness, complaining about there being yet another crisis. “Since last summer, we have been preoccupied with permanent crisis management, trying to avoid one artificial deadline after another: from deadline to deadline, from crisis to crisis. This means that we have not been able to address the real issue”: the normalisation of relations, he denounced. “We cannot continue like this”, the High Representative warned, adding that this “vicious circle of crises and deadlines must stop”.
Mr Borrell reiterated his expectation that the leaders would show leadership and a willingness to resolve differences and move towards the normalisation of relations in order to advance on their respective European paths.
Stressing that the day’s failure meant that conclusions had to be drawn about the way this negotiation process is being conducted, the EU diplomatic chief warned that he would inform Member States and partners about the “behaviour” of the different parties and the lack of respect for their international legal obligations. “This goes particularly for Kosovo”, he said. Mr Borrell said he would keep dialogue at the top of his agenda. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)